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Indian troops search the house after an encounter with alleged Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants at Burzahama on the outskirts of Srinagar yesterday. The encounter broke out in the morning when a joint search party of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and local police was fired upon by militants hiding in a house in the locality. Photo: AFPAfp, Srinagar

Indian troops shot dead four militants on Saturday in revolt-hit Kashmir after the rebels snuck across a militarised border from adjoining Pakistan, police said.

The rebels were killed in a "fierce gunbattle with (Indian) soldiers after they ignored repeated orders to surrender," police said in a statement.

The clash occurred in frontier Kupwara district.

"By killing these four militants, the security forces have foiled an infiltration attempt by the militants to cross the LOC," police said, referring to the Line of Control that splits Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and funding militants in Kashmir, the subject of two of the three wars between the two uneasy neighbours since 1947.

Islamabad denies the charge.

The insurgency in Indian Kashmir has left more than 43,000 people dead since it began in 1989, according to an official estimate.